Karnataka HC order on pictorial warnings brings relief to cigarette firms
The verdict of the Karnataka High Court on Friday striking down the mandatory 85 per cent pictorial health warnings on cigarette packs has come as a relief to players such as ITC, Godfrey Phillips and VST Industries.
ITC is the maker of brands such as Wills and Gold Flake, Godfrey Phillips makes Four Square and Red and White, and VST, Charms and Charminar.
Industry sources say these companies are not likely to immediately print new packs despite the verdict in their favour. The wait and watch approach is in anticipation of a likely reaction from the Union Health Ministry keen on curbing cigarette consumption, sources said.
While striking down the 85 per cent pictorial requirement, the Karnataka High Court had said that the Health Ministry had no jurisdictional powers to make such rules. It also said that the 40 per cent pictorial health warning rule, which existed before the amendment rules of 2014, would remain in force.
The bench comprising Justices B S Patil and B V Nagarathna also said that the amendment rules violated constitutional norms as it was an "unreasonable restriction" on the right to do business.
The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Amendment Rules, 2014 (COTPA) came into effect from April 1 last year, mandating that cigarette packs have pictorial warnings covering 85 per cent of their surface.
Companies had challenged the rule saying it was impratical to do so and that the global average of pictorial warnings was not more than 30 per cent of a pack's surface.
In May last year, the Supreme Court had transferred all petitions against the 85 per cent rule filed in various high courts to the Karnataka High Court and asked the latter to hear and dispose them off.